Stop mechanism for towel cabinets



May 5, 1931. F. M. STEINER STOP MECHANISM FOR TOWEL CABINETS Filed March22, 1929 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 [HI/61ti02 FkAA/K M JTE/NEE g (F I v? MUMATToeN Yo May 5, 1931. F. M. STEINER STOP MECHANISM FOR TOWEL CABINETS 2Sheets-Sheet Filed March 22, 1929 Inventor FPANK MJTE/NER Patented May5, 1931 UNITED I STATES PATENT OFFICE FRANK I. STEINER, OF MHVITEAPOLIS,MINNESOTA, ASSIGNOR TO STEINER- SALES OOH- PANY, OF SALT LAKE CITY,UTAH, .A. CORPORATION OF UTAH STOP MECHANISM FOR TOWEL CABINETSApplication filed March 22, 1929. Serial No. 349,117.

In towel cabinets of the so-called continuous type, wherein provision ismade for feeding a continuous length of towel web, it is desirable toprovide means for intermittently checking the feed of the towel when asuitable or predetermined length has been delivered and thereby preventthe feeding of 1 an unnecessary length andthe too rapid use I secondtime during the revolution of the roll,

it will be ineffective to check the roll at the.

end of its revolution and the delivery of the towel may be practicallycontinuous, and hence it is possible for a maliciously inclined personto obtaina length of towel wholly unnecessary for his needs withpractically no interruption in the continuous operation of the feedroll. This objection not only causes a waste of the towel through thedelivery of an unnecessary length, but adds materially to the cost ofup-keep of the cabinet.

The object therefore of my present invention is to provide a simple,inexpensive stop 1 mechanism which will insure the delivery of apredetermined length of 'towel each time the release lever ismanipulated and will also compel a'pause or rest in the movement of thefeed roll with each revolution thereof.

' I A further object is to provide a stop mechanism which will insure aslight initial movement of the delivery feedroll when the locking lever'is depressed by the user,

thereby preventing'the lever from being returned to its locking'positionimmediately following its release. Y

other objects of the invention will appear from the following detaileddescription.

lever in its released position having The invention consists generallyof various constructions and combinations, all as hereinafter described,and particularly pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawing forming a part of this specification,

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a towel cabinet with my inventionapplied thereto, the position of the towel supply and the web of towelleading therefrom, being indicated by dotted lines;

Figure 2 is a horizontal sectional view through the bearings of the feedrolls and the stop mechanism;

Figure 3 is a vertical sectional view on the line 33 of Figure 1;

Figure 4 is a detail view showing the stop moved to that position by thefinger of the user from the locking position shown in Figure 1;

Figure 5 illustrates how the movement of the stop lever to its releaseposition imparts a slight initial movement to the feed roll to preventthe immediate return of the stop lever to its locking position;

Figure 6 showsthe position of the high point of the cam just previous toits engagement with the stop lever to move it to its locking position;

Figure 7 illustrates the position of the stop lever after its engagementby the high point of the cam and its movement to its locking position;and 3 v Figure 8 illustrates how the high surface of the cam remains incontinuous contact with the edge of the stop lever and prevents anymovement of the stop lever to its release position until just prior tothe engagement of the cam with the stop lug on the lever.

In the drawing, 2 represents the casing of a towel cabinet made of anysuitable material and adapted to stand upon the floor or be secured onthe wall, as preferred. The front of this cabinet has an opening, notshown, through which access is had to the clean towel web 3 that isreceived from a supply 4 supported" by suitable means such as a shelf 5within the cabinet. The clean web is stretched from this supply up-overa debeen livery feed roll 6 and a similar roll 7 is provided adjacentthe roll 6 with a suitable driving connection such as gears 8 betweenthem to insure simultaneous movement. The towel web is formed in a loopwithin the cabinet and the loose end is carried up in the rear of thesupply to a soiled towel take-up roll 9 that is mounted in suitableguides 10 and is adapted to rest by gravity upon the roughened surfaceof the roll 7, all as substantially shown and described in prior patentsof this art.

The gears 8 are preferably on the ends of the rolls within a recess 11in the wall of the cabinet, a plate 12 removably secured to the cabinetwall permitting access to this recess and the gear of the roll 7 has asuitable gudgeon 13 suitably supported on the inner face of the plate12, While the roll 6 is preferably provided with a cam 14 that issecured by suitable means such as screws 15 to the end of the rollthrough the gear and has a gudgeon 16 journaled on the plate 12 similarto the bearing of the roll 7. This cam has a stop 17 formed in itsperipheral edge forming an off-set at the point on the cam peripherywhere the high edge or surface 18 of the cam merges into the low side orsurface 19. This cam is of suitable size and being rigidily secured tothe end of the roll, revolves with it during the feeding operation ofthe towel. 21 represents a stop lever that is substantially in the formof a sickle and provided with a pivot 22 supported in a bearing 23 inthe plate 12 and having a lock nut 24 b means of which the pivot may betightened and a compression spring 25, inserted between the plate andthe stop'lever, put under tension so that the lever will be frictionallyheld in its adjusted positions. The lever has a lug 26 in position toengage the stop 17 and a horizontal finger piece 27 which projectsoutwardly as indicated in Figure 1, to a point where it can beconveniently grasped by the user of the cabinet.

he opposite end of the lever has a surface 28 which is outwardly curvedas shown in the detail figures and when the lever is moved to itsrelease position, this surface will be in the path of the high edge ofthe cam to return the stop lever to its locking position.

before the cam completes its revolution.

When the lever is moved to its release position as indicated in Figure4, the surface 28 will engage the edge of the cam at the point 20 on oneside of a line through the axis of the cam and the pivot of the leverand the high part of the cam is so shaped that the latter part of themovement of the stop lever to its release position will impart a slightrotary movement to the cam, and therefore when the lever is in itsrelease position and the cam moved slightly as shown in Figure 5, itwill not be possible for the stop lever to be returned to itslockingposition until the cam and roll are revolved. Thus a userhaving-moved the stop lever to the release point with one hand, mayrelease the lever entirely if he so desires and obtain a suitable lengthof towel by pull upon the towel web either with one or both hands. Thestop lever remains in its release position until the cam passes thepoint shown in Figure 6 and the high surface 18 engages the surface 28of the lever. At this point, the lever is positively returned to itslocking position and this movement slowly continues until the cam hasnearly completed its revolution and is in the position shown in Figure8. At this point the stop on the cam and the lug on the lever are nearlyin engagement, and while at this point it would be possible for the userto again trip the lever, the time is so short before the stop engagesthe lug, that it is practically impossible for the lever to bemanipulated a second time and another length of towel obtained beforethe cam and the feed roll have come to a complete stop, and the movementof the feed mechanism entirely arrested.

This is an important feature in a towel cabinet. It has been learnedthrough dealings with the public in the marketing of clean toweling bythe use of cabinets, that boys or maliciously inclined persons willoften trip a stop mechanism, and if they find that by moving the leverto its release position a second time during the revolution ofvthe roll,that a practically continuous feed of the towel can be obtained, theywill adopt this practice merely for amusement and soon the supply oftowel will be exhausted, most of the web being practically clean andunused.

The form of stop mechanism herein described, I have found from actualtests, prevents this manipulation of the feed device and by positivelyinsuring the complete stoppage of the feed roll, once with everyrevolution discourages the unnecessary feed of the towel and effects aconsiderable econom 1n the operation and up-keep of the cabinet.Furthermore, the cam being rigidly secured to the end of the feed roll,revolves always as a part of the roll and prevents any possible defeatof the effective operation of the device through loose connections orfailure of the stop mechanism to operate in conjunction with the toweldelivery.

In various ways the details of construction herein shown and described,may be modified and still be within the scope of my invention.

I claim as my invention:

1. A towel cabinet comprising a casing, a feed roll for the clean toweltherein, 'a cam operated by the revolution of said roll said cam havinga peripheral off-set forming a stop, a locking lever havin a fingerpiece and a lug in the path of sai stop when said lever is in itslocking position, said lever also having a cam surface to engage thehigh part of said cam after its initial movement and impart a slightinitial rotary movement thereto when said lever is moved to its releaseposition;

2. A towel cabinet comprising a casing, a feed roll for the clean toweltherein, a cam operated by the revolution of said roll, said cam havinga radially extending peripheral off-set forming a stop, a tiltinglocking lever having a finger piece and a lug in the path of said stopwhen said lever is in its locking position, said cam having a part toengage said lever and positively return it to its locking position andalso having a camming surface to hold said lever in such position untilsaid cam has nearly completed its stroke.

3. A towel cabinet and a feed roll for the clean towel therein, a camsecured to one end of said roll and having a peripheral offset in theplane of the cam forming a stop, a lever pivoted at a point intermediateto its ends and having a linger piece and a lug adjacent thereto in thepath of said stop, said lever having a curved end portion to engage andride on the periphery of said cam when said lever is moved to itsrelease position, said cam having a peripheral edge to engage the end ofsaid lever and positively return it to its locking position, theperiphery of said cam being adapted to remain in contact with said leverand prevent its movement to its release position until said cam hasnearly completed its revolution.

4. A towel cabinet comprising a casing, a feed roll within the casing, acam plate secured to the end of the feed roll and having a radial lockofiset, said plate having on its surface a circumferential camterminating at said radial offset, a tilting locking lever projectingthrough the casing, with its inner end embracing said cam and itself camshaped 'on its adjacent edge, the cam shaped, portion terminating in alug to cooperate with said cam, the arrangement being such that anoperation of thelever to disengage its lug from the cam offset willcause the cam portion of the lever to move the offset on the camslightly beyond its locking position.

5. A towel cabinet comprising a. casing, a. feed roll therein, a cam onthe feed roll having a radial locking ofiset, a lever pivoted in thecasing with one end projecting outside the casing and having a camsurface inside the casing cooperating with said cam, a lug p on thelever cooperatingwith said offset for I locking said cam, the surface ofthe cam being adapted to cooperate with the inner end of the lever toforce the lever'to locking po tion and hold it in its lockin' positionuntil I the cam has nearly complete its rotation.

In Witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this 18th day of March,1929.

FRANK M. STEINER.

